The Weekly Development Activities

[Hendrik]

Note I said Final nail.

Look the newest Mod ahs 2 raids, ok, with arguably no gear I would even want for my characters. There is no advancement for my characters save I could continuously grind the shroud for another 3 months, or the reaver for +3 tomes. Doesnt sound like much fun to me, to put it bluntly, the game has lost its appeal due to lack of high end content and lack of progression of any sort.

2 more raids to grind for gear I dont want doesnt really thrill me.

See Cow, this is an explanation for ending a subscription I can understand.

Should have come out with this from the get-go.

We have heard the 'final-nail' argument since the Evasion fix and yet, DDO is still here. DDO will be here for plenty of time to come, even after the loonies here have forgotten about the WDA and found something new to clain it's the 'final-nail' and/or DOOM of DDO.

I hope you find something good to play Cow.

Cya after you re-sub.

[gpk]

See Cow, this is an explanation for ending a subscription I can understand.

Should have come out with this from the get-go.

What didn't you understand from his 1st post exactly?

[Beherit_Baphomar]

This is what I'm very worried about. If the release notes (which is the last source of information I have now that the WDAs are gone) come to us in a form that doesn't include specific numbers (like a press release, for instance), that could be the death knell for the character planner. I'm trying hard not to panic right now, but y'all may have to prepare yourselves for the very real possibility it may become impossible for me to update the planner with any degree of accuracy anymore.

Not the end of the world, I know. But it is/was important to ME, heh.

Ron, its not just yer character planner though.

Look at the history of the WDA's and look at the things they changed before they even made it to Risia.

We've complained about obviously bad choices when we've seen them in the WDA and they listened. The most recent being
the Paladin enhancements.

The WDA is more than just information, the WDA is a huge part of any MOD.

I wish it was just a "sneak peak" type dealio, but its not.

Interviews and test runs by third parties who dont even play the game aint gonna cut it.

Also, the Character Planner is a huge part of this game for alotta people...

*sigh* There is more to this "no WDA's" than we're being told Im sure, because it just makes no sense to take
em away. I dont see who it benefits.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

I was informed that the WDA will come in a different format, from an exclusive source instead of it being posted on the forums. That way, these "Gaming news" websites will get visitations, and we will still find out what's going on in DDO on a regular and prompt basis. Nothing is really changing except where we see the news.

If you were informed of this, any chance you could tell that person to inform the rest of us?? And I dont mean Patience telling us that there will be more advertising and more magazine articles. I mean something akin to the WDA's of yesteryear...y'know the
ones that told us new enhancements and how much they will cost, new spells, game changes etc.

Cause it seems some people are getting pretty upset about the whole deal.

[ArkoHighStar]

Ron, its not just yer character planner though.

Look at the history of the WDA's and look at the things they changed before they even made it to Risia.

We've complained about obviously bad choices when we've seen them in the WDA and they listened. The most recent being
the Paladin enhancements.

The WDA is more than just information, the WDA is a huge part of any MOD.

I wish it was just a "sneak peak" type dealio, but its not.

Interviews and test runs by third parties who dont even play the game aint gonna cut it.

Also, the Character Planner is a huge part of this game for alotta people...

*sigh* There is more to this "no WDA's" than we're being told Im sure, because it just makes no sense to take
em away. I dont see who it benefits.

Given some of the comments from Turbine vis a vis the console rumor it appears that Atari and Turbine have been in some serious talks, and now that Atari has been reorganized there appears to be a renewed interest by them to market the game and make it a long term success. When Atari was nowhere to be seen the WDA was really our only outline for getting any info on new game features. ALso it seems that this decision was made a while ago and that now that mod 7 is complete it is a good opurtinity to turn it off as we woudl be starting fresh again anyway. HOw this plays out really comes down to how dedicated Atari and Turbine are to promoting the game. Again because we know none of their plans all we see is the bad of having the WDA taken away. However that being said, Turbine better deliver some good news with these exclusives, and try at least to give us a level of detail that we can use togive feedback in a timely manner.

[Ustice]

I have created a Twitter account for DDO News reporting. When I find something that has a new bit of info, I will post it there. To follow me, go here:

http://twitter.com/ddoreports

[Raiderone]

I don't like it but all things come to an end. Hope we get some kinda update.

Doesn't look to good for news about MOD8 or the future of the game.

Does LOTOR have a WDA? If they do, Is it going away?

Face it, DDO has been the evil step child ever since LOTOR came out. I knew DDO was gonna
take a hit. It's one thing if another company comes out with a new MMO but when the same
company comes out with a similar MMO. Not Good.

So we are going to get our information from Articles. Saw a post about LOTOR vs DDO Articles.
We get a Article once in a blue moon. LOTOR gets them regularily (probably the same for Game Updates).

I'll keep playing but will admit in March and April, I didn't play hardly at all (I'm a uber player) due to boredom.

I do like the Monk. But I'll tell U right now, if BIOWARE comes out with a D&D FR MMO. I'm gone.

[Riddikulus]

Face it, DDO has been the evil step child ever since LOTOR came out. I knew DDO was gonna
take a hit. It's one thing if another company comes out with a new MMO but when the same
company comes out with a similar MMO. Not Good.

Actually while it is true DDO is the evil step child of LOTRO, I think if LOTRO did not come out DDO would have been a dead evil stepchild long ago.

LOTRO doing well is a good thing for DDO. We are benefiting from a lot of tech that came from LOTRO... the new AI, the large landscape areas, UI improvements and the bags all appear to have come from LOTRO, along with some AH improvements that LOTRO made to DDO's AH (but they still need a search, bad).

I think Turbine/devs have a soft spot in their hearts for DDO so even though it may not be a blockbuster they are still trying to do right by it and grabbing whatever they can to improve it.

[barecm]

To me it sounds as if the work involved in publishing the WDA has gotten to the point that it is taking up too much of someone's workday to continue. Assuming that the staff is thin to begin with, it is not really a surprise. However, I am also not naive enough to think that the reason it is going away is to preserve the high level, hush-hush super secret content that, if in the wrongs hands, could spell doom for this game. <insert sarcasm here> I am pretty sure things could still be openly discussed without giving away too much. In fact, that is what marketing folks call "building buzz". I am also inclined to think that mod 7 did not draw enough new blood or old blood back, so maybe some cuts are looming or already happened. I sure hope not for selfish reasons as well as I never like to hear about people losing their job.

I just hope we make lvl 20 and see the final product before things get shut down.

[Ustice]

DDO needs twitter.

[Angelus_dead]

To me it sounds as if the work involved in publishing the WDA has gotten to the point that it is taking up too much of someone's workday to continue. Assuming that the staff is thin to begin with, it is not really a surprise.

That's the most-optimistic realistic explanation for this change.

The other realistic explanation is that they are slowing down DDO development so much that there usually won't be any activity within the scope of a week, and they don't want to draw attention to that reduction.

What Turbine has apparently overlooked in making this mistaken change is that a WDA is not just customer relations... it's actually entertaining content for the game. It is. The sum of the development activities from one module to the next equals the value of the module, and releasing them steadily as time goes on lets some players get entertainment value by looking at the changes now. Some people like to build characters, some people like to evaluate game designs, and they can do those fun things before the change actually goes live.

It's a well-known rule of a profitable website: you need new content on a regular schedule. Your viewers must be able to click in with a high chance of seeing something new when they expect it, or they'll stop clicking. If Turbine does away with WDAs, they should replace it with some other release of developer info on a similar interval.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

Given some of the comments from Turbine vis a vis the console rumor it appears that Atari and Turbine have been in some serious talks, and now that Atari has been reorganized there appears to be a renewed interest by them to market the game and make it a long term success. When Atari was nowhere to be seen the WDA was really our only outline for getting any info on new game features. ALso it seems that this decision was made a while ago and that now that mod 7 is complete it is a good opurtinity to turn it off as we woudl be starting fresh again anyway. HOw this plays out really comes down to how dedicated Atari and Turbine are to promoting the game. Again because we know none of their plans all we see is the bad of having the WDA taken away. However that being said, Turbine better deliver some good news with these exclusives, and try at least to give us a level of detail that we can use togive feedback in a timely manner.

Well thats the thing Arko, if there is going to still be communication then the loss of the WDA is really no biggie. But
I cant see what they tell us from now on will have the same information a WDA had. New enhancements, changes to
enhancements, new spells, bug fixes etc. It sounds like its going to be them inviting game websites to try out the new
MOD's and we can pop along there and see what these people have to say after playing the game for five minutes.

Do they not want feedback on changes? Do they not need it?

Is it unusual for a gaming company to issue WDA's? Is this something Turbine started? I cant imagine so.

If they want to remove the WDA's, cool, but it just seems like a silly move from the info they've given us.

Meh, I suppose...

Signed,

Jaded Beherit.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

The other realistic explanation is that they are slowing down DDO development so much that there usually won't be any activity within the scope of a week, and they don't want to draw attention to that reduction.

If thats the reason, then they should change to bi-monthly, or monthly WDA's....hell, anythings better than nothing.

[ArkoHighStar]

Well thats the thing Arko, if there is going to still be communication then the loss of the WDA is really no biggie. But
I cant see what they tell us from now on will have the same information a WDA had. New enhancements, changes to
enhancements, new spells, bug fixes etc. It sounds like its going to be them inviting game websites to try out the new
MOD's and we can pop along there and see what these people have to say after playing the game for five minutes.

Do they not want feedback on changes? Do they not need it?

Is it unusual for a gaming company to issue WDA's? Is this something Turbine started? I cant imagine so.

If they want to remove the WDA's, cool, but it just seems like a silly move from the info they've given us.

Meh, I suppose...

Signed,

Jaded Beherit.

I don't see any other MMO who puts out a weekly update on development activities, we were very lucky to get this stuff I guess. But then again most MMO's do not put out 3 to 4 free updates with new content a year like Turbine does with DDO and LOTRO. WOW and EQ etc all put out large expansion packs maybe once a year or two, and they certainly only update the users on new features through web sites and only give out detailed change notes after release. The reason other games do this is because they basically detail new features on web sites like Turbine is now going to do with DDO. Just look at LOTRO go to their site look for their WDA , they don't have one never have, look for dev diaries they don't have em, why because they are all on big sites like MMORPG and TenTonHammer so that peopel who don't play LOTRO might get interested.

[ArkoHighStar]

That's the most-optimistic realistic explanation for this change.

The other realistic explanation is that they are slowing down DDO development so much that there usually won't be any activity within the scope of a week, and they don't want to draw attention to that reduction.

What Turbine has apparently overlooked in making this mistaken change is that a WDA is not just customer relations... it's actually entertaining content for the game. It is. The sum of the development activities from one module to the next equals the value of the module, and releasing them steadily as time goes on lets some players get entertainment value by looking at the changes now. Some people like to build characters, some people like to evaluate game designs, and they can do those fun things before the change actually goes live.

It's a well-known rule of a profitable website: you need new content on a regular schedule. Your viewers must be able to click in with a high chance of seeing something new when they expect it, or they'll stop clicking. If Turbine does away with WDAs, they should replace it with some other release of developer info on a similar interval.

And looking at the WDA's over the last year, it was really only once a month when we got really big additions anyway, most weeks we had 2 or 3 things added.

[Ustice]

I don't see any other MMO who puts out a weekly update on development activities, we were very lucky to get this stuff I guess.

This is true, but I think that the WDA is one of the things that has made the game as successful as it is (the little MMO that could).

[GreyRogue]

*Big SNIP*

If Turbine does away with WDAs, they should replace it with some other release of developer info on a similar interval.

Personally, I get the impression from what Patience and Tolero have said that this is sort of what they have in mind. I could definitely be wrong or Turbine could certainly fail to implement new ways of communicating, but I don't think that they're planning on leaving us in the dark for long periods of time. As you say, that would be a really bad idea because a very vocal minority of players (the forum readers) considers updates about what is coming to be a form of content for the game.

[Mockduck]

Great idea, Ustice, using Twitter for DDO news. Love it!

[rpasell]

See Cow

Manatee

[Ministry]

I for one think this is a horrible idea to make the WDA go away.

It felt like Turbine / DDO wanted to communicate with us in Real-Time... being part of the community, letting us know where things were going as often as they could and would solicit feedback and make changes if they could before release.

Now, it's just like any other game. "Here you go, paying people... this is what you get and that's all there is to it, no say, no warning, no caring for your input or feeback.

Thumbs down.

I love the game, but I hate this decision.

But, I guess this is the kind of feedback you don't want... you just want lemmings...

Too bad for a game that doesn't rank in the top 10 in the MMORGS or any other category, but ranks first with me for over 2 years now.